Newcastle United's goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman has suggested that Jak Alnwick could be given a place in the senior squad next season.
It had been claimed that following the departure of veteran Steve Harper, manager Alan Pardew would look to add a keeper to provide competition to Tim Krul and Rob Elliot.
However, Woodman believes that 20-year-old Alnwick is now of an age where he can be promoted to the first team.
"You can always look at your squad in any department and want to strengthen here and there, but there comes a point when you've got to look at what you've got and promote within," he told the Northern Echo.
"You've got to have belief in these young kids, that's the point of producing them. Jak Alnwick as an example has been putting in performances week in, week out, and not just in games for the under-21s, but also on the training pitch. He trains with the first team pretty much every day and I always think a good gauge of how good these kids are is the respect they gain from the other professionals.
"When you've got people like [Fabricio] Coloccini and [Yohan] Cabaye who have respect for this young goalkeeper, that tells me we've got a boy with something who can progress into a top keeper. We've got a very good goalkeeper coming through, and the department as a whole is healthy."
Alnwick is the younger brother of Barnsley keeper Ben.
Liam Apicella
